Fernando Lamas, You Look Marvelous…

Published: 10/8/2012

Fernando Lamas (Wikimedia Commons / NBC Television)

Depending on your age, you might remember Fernando Lamas as a handsome actor from the 1950s with a seriously seductive accent…

Or you might know him only from the Saturday Night Live sketches that featured Billy Crystal. In the recurring "Fernando's Hideaway" sketch, Crystal used Lamas's accent for inspiration, as well as a quote from the actor: "It is better to look good than to feel good."

Billy Crystal wasn't the only actor who took comedic inspiration from Lamas's aggressively sexy demeanor. Jonathan Goldsmith – a friend of Lamas – modeled his "Most Interesting Man in the World" on him.

Lamas's Argentine upbringing was to thank for that accent, and we suppose the pretty face was the result of excellent genes – genes that he passed on to son Lorenzo Lamas. Lamas the elder spent the 1950s and '60s charming women across the world, on big screen and small.

Thirty years after Lamas's death Oct. 8, 1982, it's still easy to see why the ladies loved him… and the men imitated him.